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Residents being warned about IRS scam

The Boone Police Department is urging citizens to be aware of a telephone scam involving a demand from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for an immediate payment of delinquent income taxes.

Recently, the Boone Police Department received a complaint from a citizen saying they received a telephone call from a subject claiming to be a representative of the IRS. The caller told the resident they owed back taxes and demanded bank or credit card information immediately or they would call local law enforcement and a warrant would be issued for their arrest.

In these scams, the caller may identify themselves as “agents” and give a false name and badge number, according to Boone police. The caller may even provide the last four numbers of your social security number. In addition to the threat of arrest, the caller may also threaten to have your driver’s license revoked. With today’s technology, your caller ID may even identify the incoming call as being from the IRS.

After receiving a telephone call similar to the one above, how can you protect yourself?

1. Know that the IRS will always send taxpayers a written notification of any tax due via the U.S. mail.

2. Know that the IRS never asks for credit card, debit card or prepaid card information over the telephone.

3. Know that local law enforcement cannot simply arrest you for failing to pay delinquent federal income taxes. The procedure for this is strictly a federal one and local law enforcement would not be involved.

4. If you are unsure, contact the Boone Police Department.

If you suspect that you are the victim of a scam or an attempted scam, report it to your local law enforcement agency.